Lucas fuel treatment/conditioner

[discobiscuit]

I drive a 1995 Nissan Maxima that is in great shape mechanically. I purchased this car used from the actual "little old lady that only drove it to church on Sundays" but she only used the 10% ethanol blend fuel and these engines were not made to effectively burn that [censored].

I'm not a mechanic or fuel expert in any way but I started to use the Lucas fuel treatment/conditioner hoping it would work as advertised. While I cant see that this product has hurt my car's performance Im also unable to see any improvement in fuel mileage or performance.

I'm hoping someone might be able to enlighten me as to how, or if, products like this actually work of if they have an outstanding marketing department. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

 

[Donald]

What do you see wrong with the engine or MPG? The only fuel additive I would use would be Techron.

No one likes any Lucas products on this forum.

Maybe your engine needs a tuneup or valves adjusted or fuel filter.

 

[discobiscuit]

Really did not see anything wrong with the engine or MPG...just thought that since the previous owner had used ethanol in the engine some type of fuel treatment would increase the MPG and performance.

I did change the plugs and wires but that did not seem to really help but like I said...the engine runs like a top other than a small coolant leak that I'll try to find today.

I'll look into using Techron

 

[05ChevyI5]

Originally Posted By: Donald
What do you see wrong with the engine or MPG? The only fuel additive I would use would be Techron.

No one likes any Lucas products on this forum.

Maybe your engine needs a tuneup or valves adjusted or fuel filter.

 

[mclasser]

If you're that worried, Techron is the only cleaner to use.

Many guys on Maxima.org advocate changing the fuel filter regularly on these cars.

 

[charbaby]

By using a fuel system cleaner(FSC), you won't notice a difference in performance and fuel economy unless you have lost performance and economy! The FSC will only help to keep the system clean on a regular basis. But, don't over use the FSC, usen them as directed or less so! You may not even need any

The bottles or addvertisements will read...Improves performance/MPG but, you would have had to loose either/both in the first place.

 

[JavierG]

I would be more concerned that it was only driven once a week. Is it a low mileage vehicle? It was never driven up to temp?
By the way Gumout with Regane is also an excellent fuel system cleaner.

 

[Errtt]

A few WOT runs since granny probably never drove it like she stole it.
Techron, Redline S1, Amsoil P1, or Regane for a fuel tank full prior to next oil change, then fill up and oil change. If no difference, then no worry, drive as usual.
Me, as many others.... No Lucas

 

[JHZR2]

I've used Lucas more than once. It quieted my fuel pump the same as MMO, fp, tcw-3 or anything else has. A lot of the Lucas hatred is probably not really based upon much but regurgitation of someone else's dislike.

Many don't see any real change from any additive. It's not like all of a sudden the sky turns blue, the water calms, a rainbow forms and all is well with the world.

Where specifically in the owner's manual does it say that the engine wasn't designed to run on e10?? Likely nowhere. Higher etOH content I would agree, but not e10.

I would recommend a good hard run, an Italian tune-up so to speak, while running on a good pea cleaner.

 

[discobiscuit]

Thanks for the replies. I've never really believed in any type of additive claiming "better preformance or increased MPG" because if those things actually happened they would be much more expensive than they are now. I Thought "what the [censored]...it cant hurt" so all I'm out is $9. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[KrisZ]

I know that most on here like to say anything from Lucas is garbage, but their UCL did make a difference in my Mazda 3 in one aspect. We do quite a bit of short trips, mostly city or heavy traffic commutes and the exhaust tip started to get sooty. I tried Lucas UCL and after few tanks of gas the soot was completely gone without me ever cleaning it.

Now I use a 50/50 mix of Lucas UCL and MMO in winter months only and about once a year I also run a fuel system cleaner. I never notice any difference after the treatment either. My thoughts for the reason are the same as Char Baby's, if everything there is clean, there should be no difference, but I'd rather keep it that way then wait for the negative symptoms.

The exhaust on my cars have no soot ever since I started using a UCL.

 

[lugNutz]

Much like others are saying, I stick with Techron. I started using that well before I joined this forum when a family friend who is a mechanic for over 30 years introduced me to it. He said that people would come into his shop looking to pay for an injector cleaning service of over $70 with a machine and he would tell them to just use the Techron as it would provide similar results (hard to find an honest shop these days).

I also have a friend that drives a '97 caravan with a rough idle and stutter when accelerating. He never used any additives and I told him to try a bottle or two of Techron. He was very impressed and said the acceleration is very much improved after 1 bottle.

OTOH, my stepdad loves Lucas products, but I have personally never used them.

 

[Vikas]

I too have observed soot vanishing on its own on the tail pipe but I do not have a good explanation for it. I understand not generating new soot with fuel system additive but how would the existing soot go away with anything in fuel? I am not denying it but rather not understanding it.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ


The exhaust on my cars have no soot ever since I started using a UCL.




I've noticed when running tcw-3 in di and regular gas engines, that soot shows up. Always clean otherwise.

 

[Mephy]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I know that most on here like to say anything from Lucas is garbage, but their UCL did make a difference in my Mazda 3 in one aspect. We do quite a bit of short trips, mostly city or heavy traffic commutes and the exhaust tip started to get sooty. I tried Lucas UCL and after few tanks of gas the soot was completely gone without me ever cleaning it.

Now I use a 50/50 mix of Lucas UCL and MMO in winter months only and about once a year I also run a fuel system cleaner. I never notice any difference after the treatment either. My thoughts for the reason are the same as Char Baby's, if everything there is clean, there should be no difference, but I'd rather keep it that way then wait for the negative symptoms.

The exhaust on my cars have no soot ever since I started using a UCL.




The same happened to me with Amsoil Interceptor.

I have used Lucas as first fuel treatment, I found it too tick, the car was consuming less and was quieter but at expense of acceleration the engine was less responsive.

Maybe Lucas fuel treatment is the only thing that you can use for the car, the other Lucas additives are rubbish